In 2019, the pastor and his congregation fled to South Korea after experiencing increasing persecution from the Chinese Communists. When they arrived at Jeju Island in South Korea, they took on the name of "Mayflower" in reference to the ship that brought those escaping religious persecution in Europe to America.
Later, they continued their quest for religious freedom by traveling to Bangkok, Thailand, and eventually made it to the United States, four years after they first fled the Chinese Communists. Pastor Pan now leads a congregation of 63 in Dallas, Texas.
Even though he is new to America, Pastor Pan recently traveled to Washington D.C., to meet with members of Congress and commissioners on the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom. (I served on that Commission for three years as an appointee of President Trump.)
Pastor Pan was excited to be able to meet with members of Congress and to urge them to speak out against Christian persecution. In doing so, this new American resident is setting an example for U.S. church leaders, who often continue to be uninvolved in matters of government and politics.
One of the government leaders the pastor met with was Representative Mike Gallagher (R-WI), the chairman of the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. Rep. Gallagher and Pastor Pan confirmed that Chinese Communists are rewriting the Bible. He cited as an example reports that the beautiful story in the Gospel of John (John 8: 1-11) where Jesus saves an adulterous woman has been completely altered. The Bible teaches that Christ told a mob who wanted to kill her, "Let he among you without sin cast the first stone." He then tells the woman to go and "sin no more." But in the Chinese Communist version, Christ himself stoned the woman to death.
This is outrageous, of course, but a similar thing is happening right here in the United States. Biblical messages calling on believers to help the poor are being distorted to justify big government socialism. Governor Gavin Newsom of California has appropriated the Bible to support abortion on demand through all nine months of pregnancy — a complete rejection of the life message of God's Word.
JDFI will continue to stand with the persecuted church in China and around the world. We hope Pastor Pan Yongguang's powerful message will inspire the American Church to more boldly defend religious liberty in the United States as well.
